ARTSBEAT; Three Americans On Orange Prize Shortlist

By JULIE BOSMAN

Published: April 18, 2012

Three Americans have been named to the shortlist of the Orange Prize for Fiction, an annual prize in Britain that is awarded to a novel written by a woman in English. The finalists this year include Ann Patchett for ''State of Wonder,'' Cynthia Ozick for ''Foreign Bodies'' and Madeline Miller for ''Song of Achilles,'' a debut novel. Ms. Patchett, who opened a bookstore of her own in her native Nashville last year, won the Orange Prize a decade ago for her novel ''Bel Canto.'' The other finalists are Esi Edugyan for ''Half Blood Blues,'' Anne Enright for ''The Forgotten'' and Georgina Harding for ''Painter of Silence.''

The prize, which comes with a bronze statue and about $48,000, will be announced at a ceremony in London on May 30.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.